Cyclone Aila seemed to have broken the back of agriculture in the Sunderbans. Most observers, including Santadas Ghosh, felt it would be years before agricultural activity got back to normal. But just three months after the cyclone, salinity notwithstanding, seeds were sprouting and the freshwater ecology stirring with life.

This study estimates the recreational demand for the Indian Sundarban, which is a World Heritage site and a complex mangrove ecosystem that borders India and Bangladesh. In 2005-06, the Indian Sunderban received some 64,000 visitors, mainly from Kolkata and other parts of West Bengal. Tourism to the Sunderban is highly seasonal and characterised by few multipoint or foreign visitors.